Securian Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,871 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,005 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Aflac were worth $2,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AFL. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $163,409,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 81.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,753,513 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232,683 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 471.4% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 600,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,080,000 after purchasing an additional 495,000 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Aflac by 670.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 556,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,572,000 after purchasing an additional 484,378 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Aflac during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,290,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 24,744 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.40, for a total transaction of $2,558,529.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 222,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,018,701.20. The trade was a 10.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 29,802 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.29, for a total transaction of $3,197,456.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,360,422.98. This trade represents a 37.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 55,546 shares of company stock valued at $5,863,616. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AFL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Aflac from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Aflac from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.36.

Aflac Stock Down 1.5 %

AFL stock opened at $104.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.10 and a quick ratio of 0.08. Aflac Incorporated has a 1-year low of $79.31 and a 1-year high of $115.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $105.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.70. The firm has a market cap of $57.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.93.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.63 by ($0.07). Aflac had a net margin of 28.76% and a return on equity of 16.20%. Research analysts predict that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

About Aflac

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.